I see Fractal as one of the shining beacons of currently usable platforms in blockchain gaming. I recommend it to many and I use it myself on a regular basis. I am not paid to do this — it’s simply one of the best in class and a platform I want to see succeed. Now, they’ve continued on their march to overcome onboarding friction by introducing fiat payments for NFTs.
The difficulties of onboarding players and developers into Web3 have become a focus for Token Gamer; it must be improved. That said, plenty of companies are working on improving it and there are even a few organizations that have achieved degrees of success in this area. There are two shining examples in blockchain gaming that immediately come to mind: Skyweaver and Fractal. Skyweaver, a Web3 TCG game, is so proficient at making the onboarding process effortless, that some players do not even realize it’s a game that uses blockchain.
Fractal is arguably the more impressive example by virtue of the fact it’s a platform rather than a game. Fractal hosts several games that are playable right now, as well as many more to come. What makes Fractal particularly interesting, however, is that it has a semi-custodial wallet, promoted mints, tournaments, and a marketplace integrated.
A holistic solution for blockchain gaming has been an aspiration of some well-funded projects in the last two years, and Fractal is one of them. Fractal is currently the only one that is truly usable, mind. Founder, Justin Kan (also a co-founder of Twitch), has commented regularly on the importance of onboarding, and to date, this latest update is arguably their biggest step forward on that quest.
The are several key ways in which new players are put off from trying blockchain games, and paying for NFTs is unlikely to be anywhere near the top. What is, however, is the process of buying crypto and moving it to the right wallet. It’s still a messy, convoluted, and confusing experience with many points of failure.
When I wanted to buy an Ev.io NFT so that I could earn from the shooter (you can see footage of that game here), I bought the Solana on Coinbase and then transferred it to my Fractal Solana wallet. What I’d have loved was the ability to just buy the NFT for GBP with my card.
This is certainly a focus for many marketplaces in Web3, with friend of Token Gamer and the world’s busiest NFT market, Atomic Hub, announcing fiat payments as an option back in June (which is due to roll out any day now.)
To achieve this, Fractal has partnered with Paper.xyz as their payment solution, and as you can see in the graphic above, it is a smooth and painless experience. This reduced friction can not have its importance overstated, both for Fractal’s trading volume, as well as its induction of new players.
